[N-nitrosodiethylamine-induced changes in the liver of syrian hamster with superinvasive opistorchiasis]

Trematoda O. felinius-induced hepatic lesions were investigated in Syrian golden hamsters with superinvasive opistorchiasis. One hundred hamsters were divided into 4 groups: (1)--control; (2) N-nitrosodiethylamine (DENA), i.p., twice a week, 3 weeks, total dose 72 mg/kg; (3) metacercariae O. felinius, with drinking water, 3 injections per day, once in 2 weeks, and (4) metacercariae O. felinius, as in group 3, followed by DENA, as in group 2. Animals were sacrificed 12 months after the beginning of the study. No changes in the liver were found in group 2. Reddish protrusions, up to 4 cm in diameter, appeared on liver surfaces in groups 3 and 4. Group 4 featured the highest relative and absolute weights of liver as well as clusters of oval cells and cholangiocellular tubules and cholangiofibrosis (in group 3, they were less visible). Electron microscopic examination identified hepatocytes with destructive changes to plasmalemma, nucleus and cytoplasmic organelles. Also, perisinusoidal cells (Ito cells) occurred. Tumor-bearing animals showed low hepatic cytochrome P-450. It is suggested that proliferative growth in the liver was stimulated by opistorchis invasion.